(Trinidad Express) The Office of the Prime Minister yesterday issued a statement titled “PM takes Rowley to view Mandela’s body”, in which Persad-Bissessar noted that she allowed one person to accompany her during the viewing of Mandela’s body and chose Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley. The following is the full statement –
With thousands lining up to view the body of the late Nelson Mandela, the first black President of South Africa, officials decided to limit the number of persons accompanying world leaders to the event.
In my case, I was allowed one person and I chose the Honourable Leader of the Opposition, Dr. Keith Rowley to accompany me to the public viewing of the body.
I want to express my thanks to Dr. Rowley for agreeing to go with me, and also to the rest of the Trinidad and Tobago delegation for their understanding in not being able to view Mr. Mandela’s body because of the security concerns.
In death, the world has seen the importance of this great freedom fighter, Mr. Nelson Mandela. The people of South Africa, and by extension the world, want to be part of this historic occasion.
In line with his inherent humility, the great statesman Nelson Mandela often emphasised that the value of his work lay with the people with whom he worked and motive behind the struggle. In “Long Walk to Freedom”, Mandela’s 1995 autobiography, he said:
“I have always believed that to be a freedom fighter one must suppress many of the personal feelings that make one feel like a separate individual rather than part of a mass movement. One is fighting for the liberation of millions of people, not the glory of one individual.”
